This is Softwear by Microsoft. A clothing line that taps the nostalgia of when PCs were just starting to change our lives. With retro logos, classic photos, and geek-chic iconography, these pieces showcase the DOS days of the software company that now connects over a billion people.

Advertising Age reports that Crispin Porter & Bogusky, which designed Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” ad campaign, came up with the idea.

Rapper Common will serve as the line’s celebrity spokesman. Common is also a spokesman for Microsoft’s Zune, appearing in the music player’s latest ads.

(An aside: I’m not sure, but here’s a guess as to why Microsoft likes Common so much: his name. Common’s Web site is “ThinkCommon.com” which seems to vie nicely with Apple’s “Think Different”).

Anyways, here are some of the “Softwear” designs.

This famous Bill Gates mugshot is put on a t-shirt and called “The Misdemeanor: Everyone Deserves a Second Chance”:

This is the “Albuquerque: It All Started in the Desert”:

And the “DOS Tangle: The first Logo You Saw on a Screen”:

(Common also designed some of the new t-shirts himself. His designs are much more nuanced. One example: “Reminisce: 1985: Word is Born” appears to be a giant number 85 made up of many tiny Microsoft logos).

In mid-November, Microsoft started selling various “I’m a PC” wares, including shoes and skateboards, on Zazzle.com, but this effort seems as though it will be geared for a broader audience.

Microsoft said the new t-shirts would be available at select stores and from the looks of them they appear as they would fit in very well at Urban Outfitters.

Update: For all of Microsoft’s talk of cutting down on its marketing expenses, no expense seems to have been spared at the “Softwear by Microsoft” launch party in New York City. It featured an open bar, a live performance by Common, DJing by hip hop star Biz Markie, an appearance by Entourage star Jeremy Piven, framed photos of the shirts, and even coasters featuring the “Softwear by Microsoft” logo.